Monday, April 30, 2007

The woman accused of running a prostitution ring serving Washington's elite, including at least one U.S. government official, also appears to be something of a stock picker. The woman, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, asked a federal judge on Monday for permission to sell almost 5,000 shares of Dolby Laboratories Inc. that were in an account frozen by the government because she believed the stock had reached its high point.

"I believe it's reached its peak," she told Judge Gladys Kessler. Palfrey said she bought the shares in the sound system firm at about $22 a share. "I don't want to see it waste away," she said, facing an expensive trial with most of her assets frozen.

Dolby was at about $37 a share on Monday morning, a possible pre-tax profit of $75,000.However, about two hours after the hearing ended, the stock started to fall and closed down 5.5 percent to $35.42 on the New York Stock Exchange. It was not immediately clear what sparked the selloff and one analyst doubted a connection.

Actually, I do. A bad day of travel and then that thing called real life. Pardon me, if you've seen this already.Iran to filter "immoral" mobile messages.Iran's Telecommunications Ministry will start filtering "immoral" video and audio messages sent via mobile phones, state television reported on Saturday. The Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, a body set up after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, has instructed the ministry to buy the equipment needed to prevent any misuse of Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), it said.MMS allows users to send multimedia messages that include images, video and audio." ... in order to prevent possible misuse of MMS, immoral actions and social problems, the Telecommunications Ministry will filter immoral MMS," the television said.It did not give details of the techniques it would use to filter such messages, when it would start or how it would define "immoral" messages.

Al Khameinei plays pander bear. Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday highlighted the significant status of labor in the country's economic development. In a meeting with several thousand workers in Tehran on the eve of Labor day, May 1, the Supreme Leader said that the government should draw up a suitable program to clarify relations between the workers and investors and help remove the concerns mainly that of the labors.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that clarified relationship between the labors and investors is effective to speed up economic boom through proper investment and generating value added.

Islam has dignified the glorious status of workers, said the Supreme Leader, adding that our laborers have always stood by the Islamic Revolution in the campaign against political plots and never abandoned their efforts to reconstruct the country.

Iranian laborers are very pious, noble, revolutionary and committed to the aspirations of the Islamic Revolution, pointed out the Supreme Leader.

"Workers, investors and government are considered as three angles of economic development in any society." It gets deep at the link. And don't forget to check out Kamangir.He has the lowdown on who al Khameini was pandering to. Looks like it was his homeys - oh and his guards.

GUTSY sailor Faye Turney was heading back to her ship off Iraq today just three weeks after she and 14 other Brit hostages were freed by Iran. Sailor pals of brave Faye and her fellow hostages are laying on an emotion-charged welcome for them.The crew have been planning it for days after Faye, 25, revealed: “HMS Cornwall is where I belong and it’s where my friends are.”Leading Seaman Faye and her seven snatched Royal Navy colleagues have ALL agreed to go back into the danger zone following their harrowing ordeal — despite being offered cushier postings.They will rejoin the Type-22 frigate by helicopter today as it continues its stint in the Gulf.Their brave decision also means they will be once again patrolling in a small inflatable boat near Iranian waters — where Revolutionary Guards seized them with seven Royal Marines.Faye bid a tearful farewell to husband Adam and three-year-old daughter Molly before flying out of the UK last night with Lieutenant Felix Carman, boat navigator Arthur Batchelor and the other five freed Navy hostages.They were all given the chance to stay in Britain for further counselling to recover from their ordeal, which included being made to believe they would be executed.But they shunned it, leaving Navy chiefs hugely impressed by their steely resolve.More at the link...

Iran on Monday warned tourists and other foreigners visiting the country to obey its Islamic dress code in line with a nationwide crackdown against slack dressing, the ISNA news agency reported. "We have asked travel agencies to warn tourists and to explain the laws of this country," said Tehran's deputy chief of police, Hossein Sajedi-Nia. Iran has handed out more than 10,000 warnings over the past 10 days to women deemed to have infringed the dress code in the Islamic republic, and dozens of others have been briefly detained at police stations. Sajedi-Nia indicated there was no chance of a let-up in the crackdown, a regular pre-summer measure being pursued with extra vigour this year, saying that from next week "plain clothes police will go into action." Women must cover their heads and conceal their curves in public in Iran. The law also applies to members of non-Muslim minorities and all visiting foreigners.

Oh really?The head of Iran's police force, Esmaeel Ahmadi-Moghadam, said that the crackdown on clothing was not a temporary measure and would continue for the sake of personal security for women. "At the moment, women are unable to go in peace to public baths, swimming pools or hotels," he said, referring to an acknowledged problem in Iran where women are often secretly filmed and photographed without their knowledge.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Many Malaysian Muslim men who divorce their wives are ignoring their responsibility to provide for their children because the Islamic legal system fails to punish them, a women's rights group says. Sisters In Islam said women who were unable to get their ex-husbands to pay child support comprised nearly one-third of the 214 complaints it received in the first three months of 2007, adding that those cases constitute "only a small fraction of what is happening." "Mothers are forced to beg from their children's fathers so that their children have sufficient food, clothing, shelter and education," the group said in an April 21 statement. Sisters In Islam said Malaysia's Muslim women are suffering a lack of legal protection in a wide range of issues such as polygamy, where men who take multiple wives sometimes neglect the economic and emotional welfare of their families. Some Muslims interpret Islamic teaching as allowing a man to marry up to four women. The Islamic Shariah Court is the legal authority in disputes involving families, morality and religion for Muslims, who form nearly 60 percent of the 26 million people in Malaysia, which has Buddhist, Christian and Hindu minorities.

Bob Woolmerwas poisonedbefore being strangled, according to the long-awaited toxicology reports on the death of the Pakistan cricket coach. Preliminary tests showed there was a drug in his system that would have incapacitated him, leaving him unable to fight back.

Mr Woolmer was caught up in disputes with somemembers of the Pakistan sideabout their alleged preoccupation with their religion before his murder, it is claimed.

An investigation for the BBC Panorama programme, to be screened tonight, suggests that the Pakistan cricket coach objected to strict Muslim team mates who seemed "more interested in praying not playing" at the World Cup in Jamiaca.(sic)

85 killed in 2006 Afghan school attacksAt least 85 students and teachers were killed last year in attacks blamed on insurgents who oppose education for girls and teaching boys anything other than religion, Afghanistan's education minister said Sunday. Insurgents also burned down 187 schools, while 350 closed because of security concerns, Education Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar said.

"The enemy of our nation ... has targeted our education system through destruction and inhumanity," Atmar told thousands of students at a stadium in Kabul in a speech marking Education Day. Militants are "killing our innocent teachers and students and burning our schools."

The number of students attending school has skyrocketed since the 2001 fall of the Taliban regime, which banned girls from going to school and boys from studying anything other than Islam. But more than half of Afghan children still lack the means to go to school, while 60 percent of those enrolled "study under tents, in the shade of walls and trees or in some cases, under the hot sun," Atmar said.'Nuff said.

This could be a real embarrassment for Awad, because if Muslims are actually doing well in the U.S., maybe they don’t need CAIR. And that could mean all that fine Saudi and UAE money is going to the wrong group. Or maybe that most American Muslims don’t want their kids to be part of the future Muslim Brotherhood Caliphate after all. What’s even worse - all those reports of discrimination cases against Jews (couldn’t be anti-semitism, must be better reporting….). So frustrating for Awad and his Royal backers!

FREQUENT FLYERWord out of the House Democrat leadership is that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is not only having her staff make plans for a trip to Venezuela to meet there with dictator Hugo Chavez, she has also asked staff to apply for a visa to travel to Tehran. "She is getting bad advice from people back home in San Francisco," says a leadership aide, who is working for one of Pelosi's colleagues. "She is not getting it from members of her leadership team. That's all anyone here is willing to say."

VANDALS attacked the United States consulate today, throwing paint at the building and scrawling anti-war graffiti across the front door. The vandals, who have been linked to similar attacks on the offices of two Edinburgh MPs and a nearby army recruiting centre, also smashed a window at a neighbouring house. Anti-war vandals sprayed "Out of Iraq" on the front door of the US consulate, on Regent Terrace, and threw red paint at the building.

Turkey's financial markets tumbled amid political instability triggered by a court challenge to the presidential election process and a mass demonstration against the ruling party. Fears of military intervention, prompted by an army warning to the Islamist-rooted AK Party government that it would protect the secular state, added to the woes Monday.

The main share index fell as much as 8 percent, while bond yields rose a percentage point and the lira currency slid four percent. Markets had staged a partial recovery by the close of trade in what was the biggest sell-off in nearly a year.

Business Week breaks it down for you here:Turkish Turmoil Slams Markets.Their currency got hammered too. The Deputy Prime Minister attempted to reassure the jittery markets and tonight the Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, will be conducting his regular weekly television address. It will be interesting to see what happens...Stay tuned.

Update: Turkish PM appeals for unity.Turkey's prime minister appealed for calm Monday after the stock market dropped amid a deepening conflict between his Islamic-oriented government and pro-secular forces backed by the military....Analysts said the markets will likely recover if the government defuses tension by agreeing to early parliamentary elections, a move that could appease opponents who hope to make electoral gains at the expense of the ruling party. But sustained political uncertainty would likely take a toll. In his speech, Erdogan made no direct reference to the stock market slide (!!!!!) or the challenges to his mandate, instead issuing a broadly worded appeal to Turks to safeguard the economic advances and social stability that they have gained after decades of uneven development and, at times, all-out political conflict. Reactions range from the hilarious to well, the downright criminal. First, the hilarious:

The head of Europe's top human rights organization expressed shock at the stance taken by Turkey's military, which threatened to intervene in the selection of the new president - which is by parliamentary vote rather than direct election - and urged the government to curb Islamic influences. `This statement looks like a deliberate attempt by the armed forces to influence the election of a new president,'' Terry Davis, secretary-general of the Council of Europe, said in a statement. `They should stay in their barracks and keep out of politics.''

Now the criminal:The United States stayed away from criticizing any of the players in the crisis. `We have confidence in Turkey's democratic institutions and Turkey's constitutional processes to work out any questions that may surround the election of the next Turkish president,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

One of the residents of the central Anatolian province of Kayseri, known in Turkey for their practicality, has realized a first and set up a unique store for prayer beads, in use among Muslims for centuries. Fans of beads come from all over Turkey to Tesbih Dünyası (prayer bead world) to see the valuable beads there, many of them even ready to pay as much as $5,000 for a set. The man behind the project is Kenan Paydak, who described their store as being “like a market” where sellers and purchasers can meet. Stating that those who come to the store have a chance to display their beads while being provided with food and drink, Paydak says they are very busy on weekdays. “People from all over Turkey come here, especially on Monday. Some come to sell their beads, others to add new beads to their collection. Sales are made here all day long. We act as an agent between them,” Paydak said.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

(Lots of gory details of the volcano at this site. Pic not of this eruption, just a great pic.)

Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano spews vapor.PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, April 28 (Itar-Tass) - The Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula has spewed a powerful vapour column to a height of up to 1.5 kilometres above the summit on Saturday.

The eruption of the giant mount that began on February 15 “so far is considerably weaker than the 2005 eruption, but the volcano activity is intensifying,” head of the Klyuchevskaya volcanic station Yuri Demyanchuk told Itar-Tass from the Klyuchi settlement (located 32 kilometres from the volcano) on Saturday

Gotta give a shout out to the boyz in the Afghan hood, keepin' it real for freedom.

From Blackanthem Military NewsBAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan – Afghan and Coalition forces killed 10 Taliban militants and destroyed two buildings in an air and ground engagement early this morning in Helmand Province. There were no Coalition casualties in the firefight. A Coalition convoy was ambushed by Taliban militants in the vicinity of Gereshk. Coalition forces fought back from the ground and employed close air support to destroy the buildings from which enemy forces were firing. As I live and breathe, it's my new hero, Major Christopher Belcher...“Taliban forces clearly lost this engagement, and will continue to lose throughout Afghanistan,” said Army Maj. Christopher Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force-82 spokesperson. “Peaceful Afghans are beginning to realize how harmful the Taliban are to their way of life, and they will no longer tolerate these criminals in their midst.”

Oo-rah!Flying with the Apaches in Afghanistan. Another smoking Hot Air Special. Bring your apache case. (You'll get it when you watch the vid.) Want some good background on what our fine troops are up to in Afghanistan. Read US aircrews show Taliban no mercy.Here's a tease:Capt Staley, the commander of the Apache unit based at Kandahar airfield, described how his helicopters had arrived just after an ambush by Taliban fighters with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns, on a detachment of American special forces and an infantry unit. In the second Apache, 1st Lt Jack Denton, 26, was in radio contact with the special forces unit, Scorpion 36, on the ground.

The soldiers said they had information that the Taliban were escaping across the river. "Look out for any boats," they said. He spotted a small aluminium fishing boat pushing out from the eastern shore of the 200-yard-wide river. In it were six or seven people. When they caught sight of the Apaches, they started to paddle back towards shore.

The aircrew hesitated. "It seemed a little premature," said Lt Denton. "We didn't have hostile intent or a positive ID from the ground commander." But the special forces soldiers were adamant that, although they could not themselves see the men on the boat, they must be the Taliban who had attacked them. That, said Lt Denton, was good enough for the Apache crews.

By then, most of the men were ashore, walking quickly towards the tree line. They appeared to be pulling clothing over their heads - burqas, Capt Staley thought, and Lt Denton concurred. As the helicopters came in to attack, Lt Denton said, one of the men turned to face him and dropped to his knees. "I think he knew that there was no hope," he said. "He was making his peace."From Khost via the Brunei Times:23 Taliban die in clash, woman hostage freed.Taliban rebels meanwhile stormed a district administrative headquarters in the eastern province of Khost late last Friday, sparking a battle that was joined by Nato helicopters and left at least 13 rebels dead, a provincial governor said. The militants were hit by a Nato air strike as they were retreating after the attack in Alishar district, on the border with Pakistan, provincial governor Arsala Jamal said. "There are 13 Taliban bodies at the battle site now," he said. "Blood stains in the area suggest there must have been more than 13 killed or wounded taken out of the area."Another one for the choppers..."It was the Nato helicopters who caused the major blow to the enemy," said provincial police spokesman Wazir Badshah.

Around half a million people gathered in Istanbul today demanding the resignation of the pro-Islamic government. The rally will spur fears of a military coup as it follows a steep rise in tensions between Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country's prime minister, and the pro-secular army, which accuses the government of tolerating the activities of radical Muslims.

"Turkey is secular and will remain secular," the protesters chanted, waving the national flag. Ahmet Yurdakul, 63 year-old a retired government employee accused the government of wanting to "drag Turkey to the dark ages."

At the heart of the dispute is the recent indecisive presidential election, in which the ruling party candidate Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, failed to secure a first-round victory on Friday. Mr Erdogan's government yesterday rejected a warning from the army about the vote, calling it interference that is unacceptable in a democracy.

Most opposition legislators boycotted the vote and challenged its validity in the Constitutional Court, prompting the military to voice its concern and threaten to become more openly involved in the electoral process

Since coming to power, Mr Erdogan's party has supported religious schools and tried to lift the ban on Islamic head scarves in public offices and schools. Opponents accuse them of trying to unpick the heritage of Ataturk, who founded the modern Turkish state along secular lines, replacing the Islamic alphabet and granting women the right to vote. Turkey has experienced three military coups since 1960.

What's next? Million+ protest in Turkeyhas this to say:The army, which has toppled four governments in as many decades, responded that that it was determined to protect the secular system and take action if the need arose. This made it clear, many analysts said , that Gul's candidacy was not welcome with the army top brass. The government retorted by calling the army to order and Gul said he would remain in the race.

"It is out of the question for me to withdraw my candidacy in any way," he told reporters in Ankara.

The main opposition party has asked the constitutional court to cancel Friday's presidential vote in parliament, arguing that the assembly did not have the necessary quorum to open the voting session. If the court annuls the vote, general elections set for November 4 could be brought forward. If it does not, Gul could be elected president in a third round of voting on May 9, when an absolute majority of 276 votes would suffice. The court's president said they would make a decision before the second round of voting on Wednesday.

Per Monsters & Critics:Iranian authorities now clamping down on Western hairstyles for men.Iranian authorities are clamping down on barbers in Tehran, ordering them strictly to avoid making hairstyles for men considered by the administration as 'Western' and not in accordance with Islamic norms, a press reports said ... The instruction, which did not clarify what hairstyles would be taboo, also includes a ban on make-up and cosmetics for men in barber shops.I better be hearing some outrage from John 'Silky Pony' Edwards on this.

And another one's gone. Another one bites the dust.Al Qaeda in Iraq Security Emir Killed.Coalition Forces positively identified a terrorist killed in an operation April 20 northwest of Baghdad. Muhammad Abdullah Abbas al-Issawi, also known as Abu Abd al-Sattar and Abu Akram, was a known al-Qaeda terrorist leader known to operate in Karmah and Ameriyah Abu Abd al-Sattar had links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and was reported to have been in contact with him since late 2004, up to al-Zarqawi's death. He was also a weapons supplier to insurgent forces fighting against the Iraqi Army, Iraqi Police and Coalition Forces, and had links to the recent surge in chlorine VBIED attacks across Iraq.

Intelligence reports also indicate that his VBIED cell used 12- to 13-year-old children as VBIED drivers."Abu Abd al-Satter's death is a serious disruption to al-Qaeda in Iraq's VBIED network," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson. "This represents one more victory in the war against those that would deny safety and security to the Iraqi people."areas and was the al-Qaeda in Iraq Security Emir of the eastern Anbar Province.And in other Christopher Garver news:US launches artillery barrage in Baghdad.The U.S. military in Iraq launched an artillery barrage in southern Baghdad on Sunday against suspected insurgent targets, with two dozen loud explosions shaking the southern outskirts of the capital. U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver said the morning blasts, which were heard across the city, were caused by U.S. artillery but declined to say what the target was.

Mr. Tobias is the third prominent Washington figure to be identified as among Ms. Palfrey’s clients. This month, she identified an adviser to the Pentagon as “one of the regular customers” of her service. She included in a court filing and posted on her Web site the man’s photo and tax records. Dick Morris, the television commentator and former adviser to PresidentBill Clinton, who resigned in 1996 after reports that he was seeing a prostitute, was also a customer, Ms. Palfrey’s lawyer has said in court. Mr. Morris has denied the accusation.

As you know, there are seven Quds Force members in detention as well. This involvement, again, we learned more about with the detention of an individual named Sheibani, who is one of the heads of the Sheibani network, which brings explosively formed projectiles into Iraq from Iran. His brother is the Iranian connection. He is — was in Iraq. And that has been the conduit that then distributes these among the extremist elements again of these secret cells and so forth.

Sheibani is on the Iraqi Government’s “41 most wanted” list. Not only does this guy work forand with Iran, John notes, but he’s also thought to be the first guy to bring in the Explosively Formed Projectiles. FromTime, August 2005(and that’s a good article.):

What a scumbag:

The U.S. Military’s new nemesis in Iraq is named Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani, and he is not a Baathist or a member of al-Qaeda. He is working for Iran. According to a U.S. military-intelligence document obtained by TIME, al-Sheibani heads a network of insurgents created by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps with the express purpose of committing violence against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. Over the past eight months, his group has introduced a new breed of roadside bomb more lethal than any seen before; based on a design from the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hizballah, the weapon employs “shaped” explosive charges that can punch through a battle tank’s armor like a fist through the wall.

The MSM hasn’t picked up on his capture yet. One wonders when and if they will…the capture of two major Iran-linked terror leaders in Iraq may just be too much good news for them to handle. Besides, a Republican got caught with a call girl! Exit question: Do you think anyone will be claiming the $200,000 reward for Sheibani’s capture? (BTW, you can send me tips this week (or any week) to seedub, at hotmail.)

Call the waahmbulance full of ACLU lawyers and the Human Rights Watch! Remember the big fish the CIA just reeled in? Well, theInternational Herald Tribunehas talked to all the usual suspects and they are outraged, outraged I tell ya, at his treatment.Human rights advocates expressed anger that the United States continued a program of secret detention, and some wondered why the CIA claimed it needed harsh interrogation methods to extract information from detainees when it appeared that Iraqi had given up information using Pentagon-approved interrogation practices.Whine and cheese anyone?"The CIA can't seem to get its story straight," said John Sifton of Human Rights Watch. "If they can get good intelligence without using abusive techniques, why do they so desperately need to use the abusive techniques?" But he said that there was no way to know whether Iraqi had been mistreated, because "no independent monitors have been able to see him since his arrest."

The CIA captured a suspected senior al Qaeda operative who U.S. officials accuse of commanding the group's paramilitary operations in Afghanistan and launching attacks on U.S. forces from Pakistan, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The CIA transferred Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, also accused of assassination plots against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and United Nations officials, into Pentagon custody this week. He is being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Update: Abd al-hadi al-Iraqi is believed to be the mastermind of 7/7 and was a former major in the army of Saddam Hussein. (Nope, no connection between Al qaeda and Iraq. Nope.) He was trying to return to his country "to manage to manage al-Qaeda's affairs and possibly focus on operations outside Iraq against Western targets... "

Security sources said they assessed Abd al-Hadi as a key operational commander, high up the chain in the al-Qaeda structure who was behind many key plots in the UK. He had a close link with another arrested al-Qaeda figure and, the sources said, would have 'a wealth of information'. He is thought to have been in contact with Osama bin Laden before his capture and might be able to provide information about his leader’s whereabouts."

Thousands of children below five years in Peshawar could not be administered polio drops, after a fatwa issued by anti-state clericMaulana Fazal Ullahdeclared that these drops could turn the kids "sexually impotent". Ullah’s message warning the people against the polio drive was aired on illegally-run radio FM channels. The cleric is said to be holding tremendous influence in the area and people accede to his directions.

He said that polio drops rendered the kids "sexually impotent", and also called upon the people to boycott the polio drops because these (polio drops) were a tool used by the Western countries, particularly the US.

Unfortunately, there's no vaccine for ignorance. TheBBC reports that over 160,000 children were estimated to have been left unvaccinated and that vaccine teams have been beaten up. Conspiracy theories abound.

Amirullah Khan, a resident of NWFP's Swat district, quoted Maulana Fazlullah of a local FM channel as telling his listeners the vaccination drive was "a conspiracy of the Jews and Christians to stunt the population growth of Muslims". Maulana Fazlullah confirmed this to BBC, saying if the international organisations were keen on improving the health of the Muslims, they should help the hepatitis-C patients in the area. Last year samples of the vaccine were laboratory-tested after a petition in Peshawar High Court alleged they contained oestrogen. The hormone was not found, said Dr Waheed Khan, a health official.

Actor Richard Gere has apologised for causing offence when he kissed Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. Gere, 57, said he had misread Indian customs and that he regretted any problems he had caused Shetty. He asked for the "media circus" to end and hoped it would not detract from the message of preventing AIDS.

Doesn't sound too apologetic on the Daily Show. Must be saving the melodrama for Oprah. Hmm, if he hurries he might still make it onto the View before Rosie leaves...

Speaking on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, the actor said the situation as "nothing". "There is a very small right-wing, very conservative political party in India and they are the moral police in India... they do this kind of thing quite often," he said. A judge had ordered Shetty to appear in his court on 5 May, saying she did nothing to resist the kiss, which he called "highly sexually erotic".

A lecher and a gentleman... extra crispy.

Gere said Shetty was not to blame for the incident. "I've felt terrible that she should carry a burden that is no fault of hers," he said. Public displays of affection are still largely taboo in India, and protestors in Mumbai (Bombay) set fire to effigies of Gere following the incident.

"Eighty days after President Bush submitted his troop-funding bill, the Senate has now joined the House in passing defeatist legislation that insists on a date for surrender, micromanages our commanders and generals in combat zones from 6,000 miles away and adds billions of dollars in unrelated spending to the fighting on the ground," said Dana Perino, the administration spokeswoman.

With the veto coming, some Democrats argue that the bill should be stripped of the timelines and sent back with the benchmarks and troop readiness rules intact. Others contend that Congress has made its statement and should now give Bush what he has demanded.

Another wing, including House Democrats who are influential on military policy, prefers providing money for the troops for a few months while keeping pressure on the White House through other Pentagon-related legislation. Still others want to turn the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group into law.

Each alternative carries its own risk because Democratic leaders might not have the votes to pass an alternate bill. That's because a substantial bloc of Democrats opposes providing more money for the war without some demand for a withdrawal.

It was clear that Police brutality in enforcing Islamic covering would cause objection and protest by the general body of blogestan. What was not so clear was that the more conservative bloggers would also rise against it.

He cites 'Kouroush' who offers this observation:

I don’t know who has mandated the veil in this general and inclusive form. Neither in history nor in the life of the prophet you hear anything about this. Even if the veil is mandatory, which is not, it is not so inclusive. Furthermore, I don’t know how they infer that the veil is mandatory…They refer to Quran and the scholars. I have read the same books and I have not found any trace of the veil in either Quran or the life of the prophet.

Blogger Malukut is not so sanguine.I just sawthe footage of Police attacking a girlwhom to their understanding is immodest. She is screaming that she is not going with them. The policewomen pull her to put her in the car. She screams. Sad people gather around. Everyone is watching the scene and no one can do anything. It ruined my night. I had never scene anything more annoying that this. They are treating her as if she is a murders. This is not a rumor or a fake video. I am sure every Iranian has seen such a scene in person. Let’s think this is the only instance this has happened. Let’s think by pure chance this only time is also taken on a video and is surfaced. This very event is enough to destroy the reputation of the Police and the regime. I know that the administration does not care. I am writing these to heal my own feelings…Religion, morality, and fear of God is dead in this country…They have killed the God and they have made themselves the God.

He closes by adding this:

“they have changed God’s message and have turned it into this horrible thing”.

Okay, let me see if I have this right. The US is going to pay the freight for these enemies of the state, buying the airline tickets and ponying up for their accommodations. (your taxpayer dollars at work?) Iran says - okay, but only if you don't fingerprint team members. Gee, I wonder why that could be a problem? Could there be terrorists amongst them???Words fail me. Read it all fromIRNA. Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee Ali Kaffashian said here Wednesday that his committee has received three letters of invitations from the US National Olympic Committee. He told IRNA that the US National Olympic Committee has invited three Iranian teams, including weightlifters, cyclists and boatmen to hold warm-up camps in the US."The American committee has said that it will provide two-way tickets and pay for the accommodations of the Iranian athletes during their stay in the country," he added.Kaffashian said that the agreement on invitation of Iranian and American teams to each other's countries, holding sport camps and participation in competitions was recently reached at a meeting between the representatives of the national olympic committee of the two countries in Kuwait. "The American officials have expressed their interest in signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran and expansion of mutual sports relations," he said.

"Iran's Physical Education Organization has agreed to dispatch Iranian teams to the American camps and competitions if the Iranian athletes are not fingerprinted while entering the country," he added. Concerning the proposed MoU, he said that the proposal is now being examined. He noted that meanwhile, the US is expected to dispatch its wrestling and taekwondo teams to Iran to attend warm-up camps.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday marked the 27th anniversary of the failed U.S. military operation to rescue 53 American hostages in Tehran by saying God and Iran "clobbered the enemy," state radio reported.Though the anniversary is not a national holiday or celebrated by most Iranians, the government annually marks the failed attempt — called Operation Eagle Claw — by the U.S. military to rescue the hostages. Eight U.S. servicemen died in the operation.As in past years, hundreds of mostly hard-line Iranians gathered about 600 kilometers (373 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran, to protest Washington's policies at the site where a U.S. helicopter crashed into a plane after the rescue mission was aborted, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

FromAKI:The leader of the Organisation of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who is in charge of the area of Algerian Sahara is ready to surrender, according to a report in Algerian daily al-Shuruq published Thursday. The paper, which quoted unnamed informed sources, said authorities are negotiating directly with the family of Mokhtar considered the Emir of the so-called Area Number Five, southern Algeria.Belmokhtar, whose nom de guerre is Abu al-Abbas or Louar, was reportedly close to Hassan Hattab, the former leader of the now defunct Salafite Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which changed its name to Organisation of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in January after pledging allegiance to the international terrorist network of Osama bin Laden. Hattab has surrendered under a national reconciliation plan offered by Algerian authorities to end a brutal civil war in the 1990s in which an estimated 200,000 people have died.You knew there had to be strings attached to this so-called surrender, didn't you?The terror suspect is reportedly demanding a passport and the cancellation of all charges against him, including a sentence to death, in exchange for his surrender.I say just take him out and be done with it. But that's just me.UPDATE:In a classic case of from Dinah's lips to God's ears...

From Investor's Business Daily:Frank Gaffney Jr., president of the Center for Security Policy, which is leading the divestment in terror campaign (divestterror.org) reports that the Ohio legislature will soon hold its second hearing on legislation to prevent investment by Ohio's public pension funds in companies that do business with the terror-sponsoring and nuke-building mullahs in Iran. The legislation is sponsored by state Reps. Shannon Jones and Joshua Mandel. Mandel knows something about Iranian involvement in Iraq, having served a combat tour there as a Marine.

Similar initiatives are also under way in Missouri, Florida, Illinois, Georgia and Louisiana — and not a moment too soon. According to Gaffney's organization, as of August 2004 roughly 100 of the top U.S. public pension funds alone had some $188 billion invested in companies that partner with terrorist-sponsoring regimes like Iran. In other financial news, Standard and Poors aids and abets Islamic financial markets with the formation of a series of Sharia index funds. The indices include only those stocks compliant with Sharia law and opens the door for the creation of mutual funds, exchange traded funds and other structured products to facilitate liquidity and improve risk management. Great, not only will the islamists be able to use hawala to launder their funds. They'll be able to use the S&P. And last but not least, the UK Government is considering issuing sharia based bonds. Read it and weep.Under sharia law, making money from money, such as charging interest, is not permitted, which restricts opportunities for investing to trade and assets. The Islamic financial model is based upon risk-sharing between financial institutions and customers. For instance, customers are able to get credit by asking a bank to buy an item, which it then sells on to them on a deferred basis. The market is expected to grow quickly as there are estimates suggesting that there are more than £125bn of Islamic finance assets worldwide...."Domestically, we will do everything we can to promote new ways for British Muslims to bank, save and borrow using Islamic finance products," he will say. "I believe there are great potential advantages for the UK government issuing sharia-compliant government debt. The feasibility study will also be assessing the opportunity for issuing such instruments, taking into account the government's debt-management objectives..."The government is changing the rules to allow Sukuk bonds to be issued, held and traded in the same way as corporate bonds to try to encourage more of them to be issued in London. The high-street banks are also devising products for Britain's two million Muslims. HSBC, for instance, offers an Islamic mortgage and current account.

Well, this just tears it. A clause inserted on page 72 of the Pelosi Surrender Bill mandates a 15 day waiting period before any American military units can be moved into the Iraqi theatre.That's right - a 15 day waiting period. Why not just send them into action wearing panty hose and carrying purses?From an excellent piece by Duncan Hunter over atHumanEvents.com. Read it all.For example, should US hostages be taken and a Delta Force team moved from outside the theater to attempt a rescue, Pelosi’s provision would require a fifteen-day waiting period and a report to Congress before the rescue could be attempted. Should a Zarqawi level target be located and U.S. fighter aircraft be deployed from outside Iraq, the same fifteen days would elapse before a strike could be executed. The very nature of the “notice and wait” requirement illustrates how unfamiliar Democrats are with the war against terrorists. This is a new era involving rapid movement of specialized personnel and equipment across theater boundaries. “Notice and wait for two weeks” reflects an ultimate misunderstanding of U.S. military operations.

Well, it looks like Richard is inhot waterwith the Indian government for laying one on Bollywood actress, Shilpa Shetty.

A court issued arrest warrants for Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Bollywoodstar Shilpa Shetty on Thursday, saying their kiss at a public function "transgressed all limits of vulgarity," media reports said.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Sharia anyone?In what can only be described as APPEASEMENT and CONCESSION the Pakistan government has agreed to accept all demands of the 'management' of the Lal Masjid orRed Mosque. Details are to be released to the Parliament today. What does that mean to the average Mo on the Pakistani street? It means the enforcement of sharia law.

The Pakistani Muslim League leader denied the presence of illegal activists (read jihadis) and ammunition in the mosque. This despite the report of massive amounts of arms and ammunition spotted by two security guards taken hostage by the group. This also runs counter to the frequent assertions made by President Musharraf that the mosque provided aid and comfort to SUICIDE BOMBERS. The Mosque denies this, of course.

And in what can only be described as Moslem paranoia run amok the Mosqueteers are complaining about aerial surveillance and being sprayed with gas by helicopters. (were they black I wonder?)

This does not bode well for President Musharraf and it appears that nuclear Pakistan is moving ever closer to having a radical muslim finger on the red button of the nuclear bomb.

Faster, faster on thenuclear shield please. Russia and China better get with the program, too. Although, given the state of institutionalized paranoia to be found in their governments this is highly unlikely. This ain't good, folks.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Long time readers of Dinah Lord knows that she views the Islamic oppression of women to be vile and a key indicator of the 7th century mindset of modern Islam. It pains her to see women willingly submit to the fashion dictates of the He-Man-Woman-Hater's Club that is Islam. The screws are being tightened in Tehran. Will the world stay silent like they did when this began happening in Afghanistan? Or will they continue to bow and scrape and make 'reasonable accommodation'?

The police bus screeches to a halt at a Tehran square packed with traffic. The officers leap out and begin spot checks on passing pedestrians and cars. Police work apparently like any other place in the world. But here in the Iranian capital their targets are women deemed to have infringed the Islamic republic's strict dress rules. "For God's sake no pictures!" yells a mother whose daughter has just been stopped by the male officers for her Islamic headscarf (hijab) being pushed too far back and revealing an excessive amount of hair. The dusk patrol in Tehran's western quarter of Shahrak-e Gharb is part of a nationwide crackdown aimed at "guiding"women to adhere to the Islamic dress code, which since the 1979 revolutionrequires women in Iran to cover their heads and bodily contours.

The religion of police:

"When we stop a vehicle, we politely tell them to correct their hijab. If our advice is carried out, then we leave it at that," police Corporal Habib Mohammad told an AFP reporter who was taken on the patrol. "If not and the female passenger or driver shouts back, then we will ask her for her car's document, and we will stop her car and take her case to the police station."

Hey, dude. Think you're safe? Not if you wear short sleeved shirts or tight jeans. Hah. You can beat your wife but you can't wear a wifebeater.

Twelve men have also been detained for "not observing the proper Islamic dress code" by wearing tight pants or short-sleeve shirts, he said.

And listen to this creepy, little perv:

"The current situation is shameful for an Islamic government. A man who sees these models on the streets will pay no attention to his wife at home, destroying the foundation of the family," said Mohammad Taghi Rahbar, a member of the culture committee of the Iranian parliament.

Here are some pictures of the arrests being made. Look at the outfits these women are wearing. Do they strike you as being overly revealing? Look at the headscarfs they are wearing. Does the sight of a woman's hair make your loins tighten? Didn't think so.

An Iranian police officer tells a woman to go into a police vehicle in eastern Tehran

Sunday, April 22, 2007

You just don't know where to look next, there are so many people to watch and wonder at. Not being much of a gambler, (I am notoriously unlucky) I usually end up sitting somewhere with a refreshing beverage just watching the world go by.

And what a world it is in Vegas.

The birthday party was great fun and the birthday boy was definitely surprised. Another big surprise, while on a trip to the ladies I walked by a table of twelve, good looking and buffed young men. Sitting at the head of the table? Oscar De La Hoya. (He's a cutie.) He's here in Vegas and training for hisMay 5 bout with Floyd Mayweather(Dinah's secret desire? Getting all dolled up and sitting ringside at a prizefight.)In Vegas and looking for a good steak and some old style Sin City ambiance? Gohereto my brother-in-laws's favorite steak house. (it's where the party was.)Off to Kansas this morning, hope to be back in the blogging saddle this afternoon. Please check out Scott over at Town Commons or Pamela at Atlas Shrugs until then possums. There's lots going on out there this Monday morning.I'd also like to give a shout out to new Dinah Lord reader, vegasgal. Welcome, honey.

Speaking to a meeting of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization founded by Rev. Al Sharpton, the New Mexico governor said the continent had been neglected by the Bush administration in favor of the Middle East and other regions thought to have greater strategic significance."Somehow it's not considered by American policymakers to have the importance it deserves," Richardson said. "Issues related to AIDS, refugees, issues related to governance, international poverty — somehow this continent is forgotten."Richardson, a former ambassador to the United Nations, said that as president he would press to add an African nation to the U.N. Security Council. He also touted his recent efforts to help bring about a fragile cease-fire in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan.(ed. note: you're making me laugh with this one, Bill.)

Hey Bill. Perhaps you should quit looking at your vacation photos from the USS Pueblo and readthis.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Iran on Wednesday said that it had seized four million litres of illicit booze during the last Iranian year, ending March 2007, the ISNA news agency reported. "Last year we seized four million litres of alcohol. It is very shocking, and this is only 25 to 30 percent of what is distributed in the country," police commander General Esmaeel Ahmadi-Moghadam said. Only recognised Christian minorities in Iran, such as the Armenians, are allowed to produce and consume alcohol, discreetly and behind closed doors so as not to offend Islamic sensibilities. Production, sale or consumption of alcohol are otherwise punishable by jail or the lash, although this has not stopped significant smuggling from neighbouring countries. Earlier this month, 12 people died after drinking homemade hooch in a holy city of Qom in Iran and another 100 became sick. Most of the alcohol that comes to Iran comes over its western border from Iraqi Kurdistan. (ah, capitalism.)

Female students at Tehran Polytechnic University, where students protested against Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a visit last December crying 'dictator go away' and throwing firecrackers, are staging a major protest against new regulations enabling police as of 21 April to arrest women who do not abide by the Islamic dress code. A group of 700 female students organized a rally on campus and signed a letter to the dean calling the new rules "an offence to the dignity of women" and accusing him of "wanting to extend to academia the sexual apartheid imposed by the government on Iranian society."Authorities immediately reacted on Thursday withdrawing the students' university ID cards which are mandatory to access campus and classes.The students will now have to face a disciplinary commission which will decide whether they will be allowed to continue their studies or be expelled. On Wednesday, Iran's police chief, Gen. Ahmad Moghaddam, said that women who do not wear the veil and don't abide by the Muslim dress code "are tools of the enemy, who tries to destroy the system by spreading a cuture which goes against Islamic values."